Duncan was educated at Oxford (BA, MA) and London (MA, Ph.D) universities. He did his PhD thesis on “The Preclassic Ceramics of Northern Belize”. Subsequent articles, mainly on Mayan ceramics. The Protoclassic in the Maya Lowlands published in 2000 by British Archaeological Reports. Recent publication on Early Maya Ceramics in “Pre-Mamom Pottery Variation and the Preclassic Origins of the Lowland Maya” ( Ed. Debra Walker University Press of Colorado 2023).

The Maya lived in Central America between 1000 B.C and 1528 at which time they were conquered by the Spaniards.  The peak of their civilization was between 300 and 900 AD.  During that time, they built enormous monuments, produced jade and ceramic items of great beauty and developed a calendar that was far more advanced than anything in Europe at the time.  They had an advanced understanding of mathematics and astronomy and developed a hieroglyphic script which scholars are beginning to decipher allowing us to understand their achievements much more fully.